Trick or Treat
by turtle-nerd12
Summary: It's Halloween and the Tracy family are out trick or treating. What could go wrong? A wee Tracy story.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds but any OCs are mine.**

 **And HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**

* * *

 **Trick or Treat**

As the sun began to set over the US state of Kansas on the 31st October, a family living in a ranch a few miles from Kansas City hurried to finish their preparations. Gran Roca Ranch had been covered with fake cobwebs and a variety of different Halloween decorations, some handmade and some store brought.

"Gordon stop annoying your brothers and come put your shoes on!" Lucille Tracy, wife of the famous ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, commanded while putting on her youngest son's shoes, "Scott, John, Virgil, are you boys ready to go?"

"Yes mum." Scott politely answered his mother, "Virgil is just adding the finishing touches to his costume, but he said he will be down in a minute."

"Johnny!" The little 3-year-old squealed as his older brother lifted him in the air and hugged him, being cautious of the green face paint on Alan's face.

"Scott and I will go get Alan strapped in." John told his mother, "You ready to go trick or treating Alan? Tonight, we will get lots of candy but no eating it tonight okay?" Alan nodded, having heard the same thing from his mother, father, Scott and now John. Positioning Alan on his hip, the 9-year-old headed towards the car with his oldest brother following.

Heavy footsteps echoed around the house as Virgil dashed along the corridor and down the stairs. Without stopping to put on his shoes, the 10-year-old vanished through the door and the sound of the car door slamming could be heard.

"4 sons down, 1 to go…" Lucy mumbled to herself.

"Let me deal with the troublemaker my angel." Jeff exited the main room and gave Lucy a peck on the cheek. Collecting Virgil's trainers from the shoe rack, he handed them to his wife with a kiss to the lips which she returned. Pulling away Jeff smiled at the beautiful woman in front of him, "Here, give these to Virgil while I grab Gordon. I will meet you out there in a minute."

Stopping in the doorway, Lucy turned to Jeff, "Good luck!"

Leaving her husband to catch Gordon, Lucy climbed into the passenger seat. Since their first date, Jeff had been calling her his angel despite Lucy's protests. When Lucy asked him why he calls her that, Jeff just smiled and told her that she was his special angel. Lucy had yet to figure out what that meant.

"You boys strapped in and ready to go?" Jeff asked from the driver's seat. Five excited boys shouted back a yes and with that Jeff pulled out of the drive way and down the dirt track.

Taking the time to look over her costume, Lucy brushed off her dress. Because of Jeff's nickname for her, Lucy had chosen to dress up as a fallen angel for Halloween this year. She wore a short, black and silver dress with a pair of matching wings. Upon Jeff's request Lucy also added fingerless gloves and a handmade halo as well as her black tights and boots.

Looking over her shoulder, Lucy couldn't help but smile at her bickering boys in their costumes. Scott had chosen to make his own superhero costume out of the clothes he had outgrown. On the front he had designed (with Virgil's help) his own logo which had a hand in front of the earth. Virgil was dressed as a zombie with plenty of facepaint that Lucy had added before leaving. Gordon was using the same costume he wore every year- a sea monster. To the mother's surprise, John and Alan had co-ordinated their costumes. John had chosen to dress up as an astronaut like his father used to be and got his youngest brother to be an Alien.

"Settle down or we will turn this car around." Lucy warned her sons. Scott and Virgil who were sat in the back of the 7-seater car went back to quietly chatting to each other. John (the only one not involved in the argument) continued to read but the slight shift of his eyes told the mother that he was paying attention. Gordon on the other hand…

"Why do I have to sit next to Allie? He's a baby and babies are stinky, smelly, gross-"

"Gordon Cooper Tracy I will happily take you back home while your father takes your brothers trick or treating." Lucy sent her second youngest son a warning glare which thankfully got him to stay quiet.

A chuckle from the driver had Lucy turning to look out the front window, "Nice job Luce." Jeff complimented without taking his eyes from the road.

Recognising Kansas City in the distance, Jeff turned down a narrow road into a residential area in the outskirts. Spotting a familiar house in the natural light from the moon, the ex-astronaut parked the car along the side of the road and the family eagerly climbed out.

Gordon took the lead and ran up to the front door. Using two fists, Gordon banged on the sturdy wooden door until it opened. The gathered children simultaneously belted the famous words, "Trick or treat!"

The elderly couple standing in the dooway were dressed as a wizard and a witch and they both had huge smiles on their faces, "Here you go my dears." The woman dropped a piece of candy in each of the bags that were held up.

"Mum, dad, how have you two been?" Jeff asked after finding a way past the children. Sally and Grant Tracy quickly exchanged hugs with their only son then moved on to their grandsons and daughter-in-law.

"We are fine Jeff, just trying to get your father to take things easy." Sally replied, receiving a bear hug from her youngest grandson, "We are not as young as we used to be, but your stubborn father still acts like he is in his 20s."

"You are just as stubborn as I am." Grant pointed out between the funny faces he was making at Gordon, "The world is going to judge you no matter what you do, so live your life the way you want to."

Jeff smiled at his father's favourite quote. Feeling a hand slide into his, he gave the delicate hand a squeeze and turned to face his wife who was watching their sons with love in her mesmerising brown eyes. Sensing eyes on her, Lucy sent a large smile to Jeff which caused his cheeks to gain some colour as he looked away.

"Ready to go trick or treating boys?" Sally asked, grabbing Alan's small hand and blowing a kiss over her shoulder to her husband as he was staying behind to hand out the treats.

"Yes, yes, yes! Let's goooooo!" Gordon hollered as he began to run down the street. Being the fittest adult in the group Jeff jogged after his energetic son to prevent him from getting too far ahead. Jeff gently grabbed Gordon around the mid-section and lifted him off the ground, Gordon squirming in his arms to get free, "Daddy…"

Placing the 7-year-old back on the ground, Jeff seized his sons' hand in his strong grip to keep the child from running off again. Turning Gordon to face him, Jeff sternly said, "You need to stay with the group and not run off. Do you understand Gordon?"

"Yes daddy." Gordon quietly answered, keeping his eyes on the ground. Reluctantly, the boy let his father pull him along to re-join the rest of the group.

"Come here fish-boy." Virgil called out and when Gordon got close enough, he ruffled his blond hair, "I'll keep an eye on Gordy dad. You go keep mum and Grandma company." Jeff returned Virgil's smile and left Gordon in his older brother's capable care to join Lucy and Sally who were trailing behind the children.

"Bad Gordy." Alan scolded while shaking his finger at his brother, "No run away."

Taking Alan's free hand (the other was being held by John), Gordon stuck his tongue out at his only little brother, "You guys are just so slow." Gordon complained, "I want to get around all the house, so I can have loads of candy to eat."

"Then you end up eating it all as soon as we get home and mum has to stay up all night with you because you keep vomiting." Scott reminded his younger brother, earning a glare from Gordon and giggles from the other brothers.

"No I won't." Gordon protested.

"Yes you will." John countered, "You did it last year, the year before, the year before that…"

"Did not!"

"Did to!" Scott retaliated.

"Did _not_!"

"Did _to_!"

"DID NOT!"

"DID TO!"

A sharp whistle made the arguing brothers turn to the adults, the boys' mother was giving them a warning glare. Guiltily Scott ignored his brother and caught up with John, Alan and Virgil who were waiting on the front porch of a well decorated house. He knew Gordon was following but when he turned to check on him, the 12-year-old had to hold in his laughter at his brother's pout.

The door opening had the Tracy boys loudly saying, "Trick or treat!". After collecting their candy, the group moved on to the next house. House by house their bags filled with more and more candy. A variety of small packets of candies, lollypops and even some large candies from some of the friendly elderly residents that they had stopped at.

When they were preparing to knock on another door, a light tug on his sleeve caused Scott to look down at the bright blue eyes of his baby brother, "What's up Sprout?" Scott asked, bending down to get face to face with the child.

"I need to go potty, scotty." Alan stated, swaying from side to side.

"Potty scotty." Gordon laughed to himself, receiving a weak punch to the arm from Virgil who handed Scott and Alan their share of the treats they had just received as the oldest and youngest had been too busy talking to collect them themselves.

"Come on Allie, lets go get mummy." Scott stood up and took the petite hand in his, leading the young boy to where their parents and grandma were waiting.

"Mum!" Scott called out as they got near, "Alan needs to use the bathroom."

"You can take him back to our house dear, Grant will let you in." Grandma Tracy suggested, "If he has any candy left, you and Alan can take some."

Lucy lifted a fidgeting Alan into her arms and thanked Sally, "Thank you Mrs Tracy." Turning to Jeff she added, "It's getting late, I will try to get Alan to sleep while we are there but if it's unsuccessful, I will come find you."

Kissing the top of his baby boys head, Jeff smirked at Lucy and in a creepy voice said, "Do not worry angel, this vampire has a phone you can contact him on."

Rolling her eyes, Lucille walked down the path they had come down earlier that night. She chatted with her youngest to keep his mind off his growing problem which was working.

Watching his wife and son vanish into the night, Jeff smiled and went back to supervising his other sons. Scott had protested that he was old enough to go out by himself, but Jeff just wasn't sure if he was ready to let his oldest son do that yet. Now that Jeff Tracy is a well-known name and face around the world, the ex-astronaut had to keep an extra eye on his family to keep them safe. You never know when trouble might strike…

"Relax Jeff, Lucy and Alan will be fine." Jeff's mother placed her hand on his broad shoulder, "I have lived here for a good year now and this neighbourhood is a good one. No one will hurt them."

"I know it is but it's Halloween." Jeff pointed out the obvious, "Many incidents happen at night, especially on Halloween night. Also, you are not famous mum. Some people out there will do anything to get their hands on my money."

"Jeff-" Sally started to say but got cut of by an angry scream further down the street. Looking at where the scream came from Jeff and Sally rushed forward where they recognised the four boys standing where the scream came from.

"You _idiot_!" A girl about Virgil's age shouted, "You _ruined_ my costume! This stain will _never_ come out!"

"Please calm down Felicia." A much younger girl stood next to the screaming one. Their appearances made it clear that they were related, "It was just an accident."

"An ACCIDENT!" The one called Felicia roared, "I _saw_ him kick the puddle at me!"

"Felicia-"

"SHUT UP BETHANY!" The younger girl backed away in fear, "That _thing_ ruined my dress!" Felicia snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Gordon.

"Don't you dare call my brother a _thing._ " Scott snapped back, taking a protective stance in front of his blond brother. Virgil and John stood next to Gordon, keeping him in what they liked to call a _big brother sandwich._

"What is going on here?" Jeff sternly asked, his blue eyes scanning the scene.

To everyone's surprise (especially Felicia's), it was Bethany who answered, "Gordon jumped in the puddle and it splashed on my sisters dress sir. He did nothing wrong, my sister is just very picky about her clothes."

Nodding at the girl (after sending Gordon a warning glare), Jeff considered what she said, "Thank you for telling me. This is not the first time he has accidently splashed someone, but I will still have a word with my son when we get home."

Bethany's grin revealed her missing front teeth, "It's no problem sir. My sister is a drama queen, so this is normal for me."

Coming up behind her only son Sally requested, "What is your name dear?"

"Bethany Phillips ma'am and this is my older sister Felicia Phillips." Bethany explained, gesturing to the older girl.

"Take this as a thank you from my grandson. You deserve it." Reaching into Gordon's candy bag, Sally pulled out a tiny handful of treats and dropped them into Bethany's mostly empty bucket.

"Bu-"

"No arguing dear, it is Gordon's way of saying thank you. Isn't that right Gordon?" Sally, the other Tracys and the Phillips girls all looked at Gordon who was trying to shrink into his over sized costume. Feeling the pressure with everyone's eyes on him, Gordon speedily nodded and squeaked out a "yes".

As the girls walked/stomped away, Jeff gave Gordon a serious look and warned him, "This is your last chance Gordon. One more thing and I will take you back to your grandparents house, understand?"

"Yes daddy." The second youngest Tracy quickly replied, understanding that he was in trouble. Refusing to let his father ruin his night, Gordon wildly grinned and skipped ahead of the group to reach the next house first.

Scott, John and Virgil kept up with their brother and waited behind him as Gordon knocked on the door. Preparing themselves the four brothers simultaneously (with Gordon being the loudest) shouted out, "Trick or treat!" followed by a series of screams at the woman standing in the doorway.

The woman was wearing a posh dress that had been ripped and torn in areas. Fake blood covered sections of the dress and most of her face, arms and even some on her legs. She had messy greying, golden hair that had a silver tiara tangled in it and her emotionless white eyes stared at nothing making her even creepier.

"Here you go," The woman held out a half empty bowl of candy, "Take as much as you want."

Slapping Gordon's hand as he waved it in front of the blind woman's face, Scott took a handful of the treats, grabbing an extra few to give to Alan later, "Thank you." He spoke in the quiet of the night.

Taking his turn to slap Gordon's hand as he went to take a third handful of candy, Virgil told the woman, "Happy Halloween!" as he backed down the driveway, his brothers slowly joined him. Once they joined up with the grown up, Virgil suggested, "Why don't we start heading back? People are starting to run out of candy and the young children will be heading to bed soon, so most people will be stopping."

"I agree with Virgil." John stated, "It's getting late Dad."

"Your mother is already at your grandparents with Alan so let's go get them and head back to the ranch." Jeff explained, stealing the bag from Gordon who was stuffing his face with his candy.

"I 'on' wa'a go 'ome." Gordon protested with his mouth full. Swallowing what was left in his mouth the 7-year-old repeated his sentence, "I don't wanna go home, Daddy!"

"It's already way past your bed time, Gordy." Scott acknowledged, "I know you don't want us going out alone dad, but can Virgil and I do a detour just down that road. I want to stop at Henry's place. He told me that his family are giving out homemade marshmallows this year."

"We'll come with you, Scott." Jeff insisted, heading down the road Scott had pointed to.

Crossing his arms, Scott stood his ground and confronted his overprotective father, "Dad, I'm 12 now. My friends went trick or treating together without any parents so why can't I walk down one street with my brother?"

"Because there are many people out there who will willingly hurt you just to get their hands on my fortune." The Tracy patriarch let out a deep sigh, "I just don't want anything to happen to you- to any of you."

"You raised us well dad." Virgil backed up his only older brother. He too felt like he was being trapped in a bubble by his parents, mainly his father, "We will be careful and I made sure my phone was charged before we left so if we need you, I can call you. If not, Scott could call you."

Seeing that his father was about to break, Virgil continued, "Dad, you know where Henry lives so if we take too long you can come find us. We will use the same route we always take- the one that takes us down that back road which leads straight to Grandma's."

Reluctantly Jeff nodded and watched as Virgil and Scott left down the other road. Henry was Scott's school mate, but he also got along with Virgil due to their shared love of music. Henry played the guitar while Virgil played the piano. Quite often, they would get together and compose pieces or just play tunes.

Jeff smiled at his sons fading backs and linked arms with his mother who pretty much had to drag him away. His boys were growing up so fast and Jeff hated to admit to how much of his son's development he had missed while he was still with NASA. Months even year long trips to outer space robbed him of having the chance to watch his sons grow up. He missed birthdays, school performances, holidays… but not anymore. Now that he had officially left NASA and the plans to open his own business were in the works, Jeff would have plenty of time to spend with his family. Or at least that's what he thought…

The walk back to the Tracy grandparents house took double the amount of time it was supposed to because Gordon wanted to stop at all the houses that still had lights on and lit pumpkins to collect more candy. John being the only brother left in the group was forced by an excited Gordon to run down each of the driveways with him. Several of the doors stayed locked but the doors that did open gave Gordon and John extra to get rid of the leftovers.

Spotting his parents house a few blocks down, Jeff waved at his wife and youngest son who were waiting at the end of the drive way. Lucy put the tiny child down. Now wearing his favourite red onesie pyjamas and the face paint removed, the tot slowly ran down a section of the path before stopping and wildly waving at his daddy.

Unknown to the 3-year-old a black car had just started reversing out of the driveway Alan was standing in front of…

* * *

"I can't believe Henry's mum made these from scratch. They taste so good." Scott took a large bite out of the sticky marshmallow. Swallowing Scott said, "I think these are better than the store brought versions."

"Well they are certainly better than the ones Grandma tried to make." Virgil reminded. Grandma Tracy was never one to sit back and let others do it for her. Sally did everything around the house like cleaning, gardening, cooking… the only problem was that she was a horrible cook. But that didn't stop her.

"Don't remind me of that day Virg. Please don't." Scott pleaded, setting his marshmallow aside for the time being, "I felt nauseous for days after taking one bite. I struggled to keep mum's food down and that's the good food."

Holding back a chuckle, the second oldest Tracy son smiled and finished off the last of his delicious marshmallow. Licking off his fingers Virgil teased, "You looked ready to vomit every time mum announced it was lunch or dinner time. She almost ended up taking you to see a doctor because you weren't eating anything."

"Virgil…"

"Gordon has a stomach of steel, Alan didn't get a piece as he was considered too young, John was smart and politely told Grandma that he was full, and I chugged down a bottle of orange juice afterwards." Glancing at his brown-haired brother, Virgil added, "It helped get the taste out of my mouth."

" _Virgil_ …"

"Yes Scott?"

"Please stop." Scott begged with a hint of green on his face, "I eat the least amount of candy out of the five of us, my stomach rejects anything that is overly sweet."

"Or Grandma's homemade treats?"

"Or Grandma's homemade treats." Scott repeated his brother with a smirk. Leaning closer to his immediate younger brother, Scott whispered, "Just don't tell Grandma that."

"Wouldn't dream of it big bro." The messy black-haired boy replied. Looking at the exit to the alleyway, Virgil could just make out the outline of a young child standing on the opposite side of the road, his arms wildly waving.

"Hey Virg, isn't that Alan?" Scott questioned, pointing to the enthusiastic child.

Squinting his eyes in the pitch black of the night, the artist was able to make out a tinge of red on the boys' clothes, "Yep, those are Alan's pj's." Virgil confirmed, "I helped mum pack them this morning."

"Alan's fav…ourite…" Scott started but trailed off when a pair of red lights illuminated their baby brother. Recognising the shape and size of the object, the oldest Tracy son sprinted forwards shouting at the top of his lungs, "CAR!"

* * *

Hearing his oldest son shout, Jeff thought that it was Scott that was in trouble but when he noticed the red light that had suddenly appeared on his baby boy becoming more vibrant, Jeff feared that it was his youngest in harms way. Working his legs beyond their normal capability, Jeff dashed towards Alan yelling his name, "ALAN! RUN!"

Confused and unsure of what had gotten his daddy so shaken, the child lowered his arms and just stood there watching his frantic father. The poor boy was too puzzled to consider that he was in trouble and the reason for his dad's fast movements.

The reversing car inched closer and closer to the tiny boy, Alan's height preventing him from being seen in the car's mirrors.

Not caring for his own safety (only caring about his baby brother) Scott rushed across the road and closed the gap between him and the young boy. Scooping the confused child into his strong embrace, Scott gave the deadly vehicle a death glare.

At that moment, a panicking man jumped out of the now motionless car (having slammed on the brakes when he saw Scott run behind the car) and spoke to Jeff who had just joined his oldest and youngest sons, "I-I-I'm so… God… I didn't s-see him there… I-I-I…"

Seeing the man's obvious distress, Lucy placed a comforting hand on his shaking shoulder, "Sir, you need to breath. Deep breaths now. In and out, in and out…" Doing the exercises with him, Lucy got the man to calm down enough to for him to talk.

"I am so sorry. I couldn't see him in the mirrors." The tanned man explained, "It's my wife. She-she-she…"

"Breathe…" Lucy prompted.

A painfilled shout from inside the car caused everyone to jump, "TONY!"

"Mywifejustwentintolabour!" the man (now known as Tony) hurriedly told them in one breath.

It took a few seconds for the grownup to decipher what Tony had said. Lucy was about to say something when Jeff beat her to it, "Go."

Lucy decided to expand on her husbands' word, "No one got hurt here and right now your wife and unborn child need you." She patted the man's shoulder, "Go."

Sending a quick smile at the kind family, Tony climbed back into his car and (being extra careful this time) pulled out of the driveway once the Tracy's had moved to the side. Tony and his wife sent a quick wave out of the window as they drove past the Tracy family.

"What a day to be born." Virgil mumbled having gone to join John and Virgil down the road before meeting up with everyone else.

"Come on boys lets head home." Jeff announced, wrapping an arm around his wife's slim waist, "I've had enough scares for this year."

Slipping her arm around Jeff's waist and resting her head on his chest, "Before we leave, I know of someone who has some candy left and wants to give it away."

"Who? Who?" Gordon inquired, bouncing up and down. He ran off with all 4 of his brothers hot on his heals when Lucy gestured to a nearby house. Banging their different sized fist on their grandparents door, the boys stood there waiting impatiently. As the door creaked open, the Tracy brothers belted as one…

"TRICK OR TREAT!"


End file.
